On a pretty much empty train from 北京北 to 八达岭 (Beijing Bei to Badaling) My original plan to hike from Jinshanling to Simatai was thwarted yesterday by some inaccurate guidebooks and a contingent of suspicious unmarked minibus drivers.
I'd forgotten how much I love riding the train through the countryside.
China feels so old. Like in Italy old things survive and feel like relics but old things in China are still alive, are still preserved as a way of life. I think of the brooms made of sticks and old men carrying their belongings in grain sacks.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
22 February 2009: Beijing
Okay I'm disappointed that I haven't written the past couple of days. Although on Friday I did write Richard a letter, the draft of which is in the back of this notebook. I am now in Beijing staying at the house of Curtis and Amanda A. They are lovely. Their daughter E. is 4 in April and so articulate and so smart. Amanda feeds her knowledge and helps her connect information at every possible opportunity, in every conversation.
I rode the overnight train from Kaifeng to Beijing Xi on Friday night. The experience of getting on the train was reminiscent of WWII images of Jews getting on trains. Kind of freaky for me to say, I know, but allow me to explain. It was dark, people were lined up carrying goods in various containers, the people shouting instructions in an incomprehensible tongue wore army green imperial (reich) looking uniforms, there was a sense of urgency. Okay I'd better get ready for church.
--
Found a Taiwanese guy to help me buy a train ticket = answer to prayer. Saw Olympic Stadium. Went to Classens for YSA lunch. Met Franca. Decided not to fear man more than God. :)
I rode the overnight train from Kaifeng to Beijing Xi on Friday night. The experience of getting on the train was reminiscent of WWII images of Jews getting on trains. Kind of freaky for me to say, I know, but allow me to explain. It was dark, people were lined up carrying goods in various containers, the people shouting instructions in an incomprehensible tongue wore army green imperial (reich) looking uniforms, there was a sense of urgency. Okay I'd better get ready for church.
--
Found a Taiwanese guy to help me buy a train ticket = answer to prayer. Saw Olympic Stadium. Went to Classens for YSA lunch. Met Franca. Decided not to fear man more than God. :)
19 February 2009: Kaifeng
I think today was my favorite so far. Well that's hard to say, but it was great. We went to buy glasses--RMB 300 for 2 pairs. I like mine but the prescription isn't quite right. No surprise there. But then we ate at Richard's house and went to the judges mansion, or whatever. It was the parents, 2 aunts, an uncle, and us 2 young ones. I think they loved me. We had a lot of fun. I gave all of them my US coins. They were entranced. Dinner was some soup with various mushrooms. It was quiet. And I fell. My shins hurt. I'm tired. Learned a word. Si ba'. Or something. Means yeah? or really?/right?
18 February 2009: Kaifeng
山 shan. mountain.
Watching CCTV9, a news feature called Dialogue is on discussing the Chinese president's 5-nation African tour. It's pretty much just veiled yet specific criticism of the US. For example: "What do you think about Steven Spielberg's boycotting the Beijing Olympic Ceremonies in response to China's involvement with the Sudanese government?" "First of all, if there was any loss, it's his. Second, people tend to focus on specific examples. They must see the general principle that China maintains--non-interference in other countries' domestic affairs. We wouldn't go in unilaterally." Other example: "How does this visit contradict the Western criticism about Chinese involvement with human rights and humanitarian aid?" "Well China has never participated in slavery of the African nations or in racial discrimination for political purposes..." And "How does Pres. Hu's visit contradict the Western criticism that China is only involved in countries with rich national resources?" "Well 4 of the 5 countries are not known for their natural resources." It surprised me how much the program served as an apologist for China's foreign policy decision and subtle yet specific criticism of Western (read: US) behavior.
Anyway, I'm in Kaifeng staying at Wang He's uncle's empty house. Everyone is taking such great care of me. Kaifeng is an ancient city. Some great photos will come of today. We went to the plaza last night with all the snacks Richard told me about so long ago. I got hit (kind of, the back wheel rubbed my leg) by a rickshaw, which I think is funny. So last night was a lively environment.
(later that day...)
Had so much fun touring a park here in Kaifeng. I got a Chinese name. It's Yang Hui (Yang: foreign/fashion and Hui: clever/lovely) and the boys are excited about it. I hit my stride with chopsticks. Gao Xinhua said he's learned a lot from me about Americans, which makes me nervous :)
We ate these dumplings/buns that look like flowers when in the pan, then you pick them up and they look like lanterns. You bite and suck the juice out then eat it. Fun.
I also got my picture taken with some traditional costume. I was embarrassed at first but then loved it. A girl wanted a photo with me.
Watching CCTV9, a news feature called Dialogue is on discussing the Chinese president's 5-nation African tour. It's pretty much just veiled yet specific criticism of the US. For example: "What do you think about Steven Spielberg's boycotting the Beijing Olympic Ceremonies in response to China's involvement with the Sudanese government?" "First of all, if there was any loss, it's his. Second, people tend to focus on specific examples. They must see the general principle that China maintains--non-interference in other countries' domestic affairs. We wouldn't go in unilaterally." Other example: "How does this visit contradict the Western criticism about Chinese involvement with human rights and humanitarian aid?" "Well China has never participated in slavery of the African nations or in racial discrimination for political purposes..." And "How does Pres. Hu's visit contradict the Western criticism that China is only involved in countries with rich national resources?" "Well 4 of the 5 countries are not known for their natural resources." It surprised me how much the program served as an apologist for China's foreign policy decision and subtle yet specific criticism of Western (read: US) behavior.
Anyway, I'm in Kaifeng staying at Wang He's uncle's empty house. Everyone is taking such great care of me. Kaifeng is an ancient city. Some great photos will come of today. We went to the plaza last night with all the snacks Richard told me about so long ago. I got hit (kind of, the back wheel rubbed my leg) by a rickshaw, which I think is funny. So last night was a lively environment.
(later that day...)
Had so much fun touring a park here in Kaifeng. I got a Chinese name. It's Yang Hui (Yang: foreign/fashion and Hui: clever/lovely) and the boys are excited about it. I hit my stride with chopsticks. Gao Xinhua said he's learned a lot from me about Americans, which makes me nervous :)
We ate these dumplings/buns that look like flowers when in the pan, then you pick them up and they look like lanterns. You bite and suck the juice out then eat it. Fun.
I also got my picture taken with some traditional costume. I was embarrassed at first but then loved it. A girl wanted a photo with me.
17 February 2009: Zhengzhou
I am feeling much better about myself today after blow drying my hair and using my straightener (I kept from Australia--I'm so resourceful.)
Last night after Shaolin Si we went to a hot pot restaurant. It was HUGE--three floors, apparently 100 tables but I suspect there may have been more. They put some water in a tray then this fire in a copper thing and a cone on top. Somewhere there is a bowl surrounding the fire that has water in it. My friends ordered very thinly shaved meats (lamb, beef), vegetables (spinach, that mystery vegetable that is white with holes in it [drawing of lotus root], mushroom something that to me looked like red lettuce crossed with seaweed, white mushrooms that look like sprouts, tofu that to me looked like brain, and noodles. The idea is to pick up the food with chopsticks, swirl it around until it cooks, and pull it back out and eat it. Usually they placed the food in the bowl of sesame sauce. Oh I forgot--I think we had meatballs made of something like spam. Sweet flavor. I liked it. It was such a fun meal. I had trouble holding on to the stuff I cooked. My friends asked for a fork for me, and it wasn't easy to come up with one. I didn't use it except for the slippery noodles. At the end the water is a soup which actually tasted pretty good.
K on the way out we all had a hard time leaving together so I spent some time on each stair landing. Let me tell you, I caused QUITE A STIR. I don't exaggerate when I say everyone that noticed me stared. I just smiled at them as sweetly as I could. One waitress smiled back.
The TV is on. The channels actually remind me of Italian television,which doesn't surprise me because both are state owned.
Something which does surprise me though is I haven't seen evidence of price fixing, except I saw a store yesterday that said "______ Monopolized Store." I just know that price fixing has been a feature of Communist systems. I have a lot to learn but it seems there is a blend of capitalism and communism. Richard told me last night unemployment is something like 30% and for recent university graduates it's even higher--like 50%. I'm glad he can be in Australia.
I learned some characters and numbers yesterday. In the building with 500 monks because they are numbered. 一 二 三 四 that's 1-4. I don't know 5. 6 looks like a running man. There's some busy character that comes first to let you know it's a number, then if I haven't remembered incorrectly [abstraction of busy # character] 二百一十三 means 213. 百 means hundred and 十 means ten. I really think I could learn this language especially since I seem to associate characters with meanings and sounds. Well I was feeling confident like that last night until the computer's auto-Chinese speller showed me there can be multiple characters for given sounds.
Distance is a heartless tyrant.
开封 [Kaifeng]
The boys took me on a scary Ferris Wheel. Oh dear. It was in the Zhengzhou public park. While walking in this park we came across two men (one old, one young) playing table tennis. Liu Jie asked if we could borrow their paddles and we hit a few serves. :)
We left Jackie and Amber (Wang Li Juen...I think, Li = victory and Juen = beauty) in Zhengzhou. Jackie has an English (ILS?) exam on Thursday so he stayed. This event spawned the tyrannical distance complaint. They didn't fill me on too well on the day's plans so it was unexpected. It was mildly like leaving Australia again. I hate goodbyes. But maybe now there won't be as much doting :) (I asked about the monopolized store. It's the mobile phone company, state owned.)
Last night after Shaolin Si we went to a hot pot restaurant. It was HUGE--three floors, apparently 100 tables but I suspect there may have been more. They put some water in a tray then this fire in a copper thing and a cone on top. Somewhere there is a bowl surrounding the fire that has water in it. My friends ordered very thinly shaved meats (lamb, beef), vegetables (spinach, that mystery vegetable that is white with holes in it [drawing of lotus root], mushroom something that to me looked like red lettuce crossed with seaweed, white mushrooms that look like sprouts, tofu that to me looked like brain, and noodles. The idea is to pick up the food with chopsticks, swirl it around until it cooks, and pull it back out and eat it. Usually they placed the food in the bowl of sesame sauce. Oh I forgot--I think we had meatballs made of something like spam. Sweet flavor. I liked it. It was such a fun meal. I had trouble holding on to the stuff I cooked. My friends asked for a fork for me, and it wasn't easy to come up with one. I didn't use it except for the slippery noodles. At the end the water is a soup which actually tasted pretty good.
K on the way out we all had a hard time leaving together so I spent some time on each stair landing. Let me tell you, I caused QUITE A STIR. I don't exaggerate when I say everyone that noticed me stared. I just smiled at them as sweetly as I could. One waitress smiled back.
The TV is on. The channels actually remind me of Italian television,which doesn't surprise me because both are state owned.
Something which does surprise me though is I haven't seen evidence of price fixing, except I saw a store yesterday that said "______ Monopolized Store." I just know that price fixing has been a feature of Communist systems. I have a lot to learn but it seems there is a blend of capitalism and communism. Richard told me last night unemployment is something like 30% and for recent university graduates it's even higher--like 50%. I'm glad he can be in Australia.
I learned some characters and numbers yesterday. In the building with 500 monks because they are numbered. 一 二 三 四 that's 1-4. I don't know 5. 6 looks like a running man. There's some busy character that comes first to let you know it's a number, then if I haven't remembered incorrectly [abstraction of busy # character] 二百一十三 means 213. 百 means hundred and 十 means ten. I really think I could learn this language especially since I seem to associate characters with meanings and sounds. Well I was feeling confident like that last night until the computer's auto-Chinese speller showed me there can be multiple characters for given sounds.
Distance is a heartless tyrant.
开封 [Kaifeng]
The boys took me on a scary Ferris Wheel. Oh dear. It was in the Zhengzhou public park. While walking in this park we came across two men (one old, one young) playing table tennis. Liu Jie asked if we could borrow their paddles and we hit a few serves. :)
We left Jackie and Amber (Wang Li Juen...I think, Li = victory and Juen = beauty) in Zhengzhou. Jackie has an English (ILS?) exam on Thursday so he stayed. This event spawned the tyrannical distance complaint. They didn't fill me on too well on the day's plans so it was unexpected. It was mildly like leaving Australia again. I hate goodbyes. But maybe now there won't be as much doting :) (I asked about the monopolized store. It's the mobile phone company, state owned.)
16 February 2009: Shaolin temple, Dengfeng
16 February 2009
Uncle's name is Gao Xinhua.
Last night as I went to sleep hypothetical conversations in Chinese were running through my head. I think I could learn this language.
RAIN SNOW FOG OF DAY
CROOKE ROAD SLOW DOWN
--poetic road sign
Donkey vehicle.
I just asked Liu Jie if he brought his orange clothes so he can teach the monks kong fu. Wang He's response: "teach fish to swim"
shao lin temple 少林寺 Shao Lin Si
坚持计划生育基本国策
"stick to the basis State policy for family planning" --roadside billboard
Uncle's name is Gao Xinhua.
Last night as I went to sleep hypothetical conversations in Chinese were running through my head. I think I could learn this language.
RAIN SNOW FOG OF DAY
CROOKE ROAD SLOW DOWN
--poetic road sign
Donkey vehicle.
I just asked Liu Jie if he brought his orange clothes so he can teach the monks kong fu. Wang He's response: "teach fish to swim"
shao lin temple 少林寺 Shao Lin Si
坚持计划生育基本国策
"stick to the basis State policy for family planning" --roadside billboard
15 February 2009: Shanghai and Zhengzhou
At the Pudong branch. We arrived quite early. Met Br. Lewis.
I am SO happy to be in China. I want to take some conversational Chinese classes. I think babies have more fun learning Chinese than learning English. I find myself always wanting to imitate the speech I hear. It's irresistible.
Zhao Ting is Xiaomei's roommate. She is so sweet. I want to package her in a Chinese takeout box and bring her home to America with me. Last night she played some hymns on her Kawai piano and I sang I know that my Redeemer lives, a song Sister Wang always wanted to sing my first transfer, and truth reflects upon our senses, one of her favorites. I love that I could sing those hymns in a Communist country without missionaries.
I took a most interesting shower. They don't use the bathtub in this apartment. They just shower on the floor. There's a drain on the floor. I think I left my shower shoes...
On the way to church (taxi - subway - taxi), we passed an old man sitting on a bench with his pet rabbit on the ground next to him. We passed a couple of bikes with the guy pedaling and the girl on the back side saddling. I thought it was cute. Apparently it's illegal.
The RS president reminds me of D. Grant.
Brother Lewis suggested accurately that Sister L. [my mission president's wife] is one of the world's greatest missionaries. [My mission president and his family used to live in Shanghai and attended church at the same branch.]
So excited to see my converts in a few hours. My sheaves.
ZHENGZHOU
I am feeling laden with sheaves. I arrived in Zhengzhou to Richard, Jackie, Amber (Jackie's fiancee/wife), and Richard's uncle (husband of father's sister), though so far he has no name. We went to eat at some little restaurant. I had some trouble with my chopsticks. So funny. So Jackie served me food every once in a while. As we walked out (we had a private room to avoid smoke and staring), a teenage waiter boy was poised with his camera phone open and pointed directly at me. Premeditated paparazzi behavior. It was all I could do to keep from laughing but I lost composure when I walked out.
Oh, for dinner we had some kind of vegetable that apparently grows in the mud. The cross section looks like this: [ drawing ] okay that was a poor representation but it resembled Swiss cheese and reminded me a little of water chestnut. Also, some kind of preserved pork, spicy tofu, baby Chinese cabbage, and soup with noodles like 1 inch wide and in some cases a couple of feet long.
Caption: Lotus root
I wanted to make a note that Jessie from the airplane scolded me for not using more expensive beauty products. She asked me if I use Clinique. She was disappointed when I said I use the stuff that costs $3. :)
So at church Xiaomei introduced me to Brett E. from Bountiful, who served in Hong Kong then learned Mandarin at the U. I also met a Chinese Australian from Perth. I was so excited to hear his accent. His name is Kaolin or something.
OH. As we got off the subway, Silent Night in English was playing on the speakers. Weird: It's February and this is not a Christian country.
Tomorrow we visit the Shaolin temple. I am so excited to spend time with these people. I am so happy to be here.
People at church today talked about the L.'s (I went to their old branch) and how wonderful they are and how thy miss them. It really makes me want to be excellent and develop good habits and be selfless so I can have an excellent family. Elder, oops President, Eyring's most recent First Presidency message said that many people he's interacted with report that the Mormon family they knew were the finest people they ever knew. I want to live so others can say that about my family and be attracted to the gospel. I have a lot of practicing to do. I think living in a foreign country as a family is great preparation for being those fine people.
I am SO happy to be in China. I want to take some conversational Chinese classes. I think babies have more fun learning Chinese than learning English. I find myself always wanting to imitate the speech I hear. It's irresistible.
Zhao Ting is Xiaomei's roommate. She is so sweet. I want to package her in a Chinese takeout box and bring her home to America with me. Last night she played some hymns on her Kawai piano and I sang I know that my Redeemer lives, a song Sister Wang always wanted to sing my first transfer, and truth reflects upon our senses, one of her favorites. I love that I could sing those hymns in a Communist country without missionaries.
I took a most interesting shower. They don't use the bathtub in this apartment. They just shower on the floor. There's a drain on the floor. I think I left my shower shoes...
On the way to church (taxi - subway - taxi), we passed an old man sitting on a bench with his pet rabbit on the ground next to him. We passed a couple of bikes with the guy pedaling and the girl on the back side saddling. I thought it was cute. Apparently it's illegal.
The RS president reminds me of D. Grant.
Brother Lewis suggested accurately that Sister L. [my mission president's wife] is one of the world's greatest missionaries. [My mission president and his family used to live in Shanghai and attended church at the same branch.]
So excited to see my converts in a few hours. My sheaves.
ZHENGZHOU
I am feeling laden with sheaves. I arrived in Zhengzhou to Richard, Jackie, Amber (Jackie's fiancee/wife), and Richard's uncle (husband of father's sister), though so far he has no name. We went to eat at some little restaurant. I had some trouble with my chopsticks. So funny. So Jackie served me food every once in a while. As we walked out (we had a private room to avoid smoke and staring), a teenage waiter boy was poised with his camera phone open and pointed directly at me. Premeditated paparazzi behavior. It was all I could do to keep from laughing but I lost composure when I walked out.
Oh, for dinner we had some kind of vegetable that apparently grows in the mud. The cross section looks like this: [ drawing ] okay that was a poor representation but it resembled Swiss cheese and reminded me a little of water chestnut. Also, some kind of preserved pork, spicy tofu, baby Chinese cabbage, and soup with noodles like 1 inch wide and in some cases a couple of feet long.
Caption: Lotus rootI wanted to make a note that Jessie from the airplane scolded me for not using more expensive beauty products. She asked me if I use Clinique. She was disappointed when I said I use the stuff that costs $3. :)
So at church Xiaomei introduced me to Brett E. from Bountiful, who served in Hong Kong then learned Mandarin at the U. I also met a Chinese Australian from Perth. I was so excited to hear his accent. His name is Kaolin or something.
OH. As we got off the subway, Silent Night in English was playing on the speakers. Weird: It's February and this is not a Christian country.
Tomorrow we visit the Shaolin temple. I am so excited to spend time with these people. I am so happy to be here.
People at church today talked about the L.'s (I went to their old branch) and how wonderful they are and how thy miss them. It really makes me want to be excellent and develop good habits and be selfless so I can have an excellent family. Elder, oops President, Eyring's most recent First Presidency message said that many people he's interacted with report that the Mormon family they knew were the finest people they ever knew. I want to live so others can say that about my family and be attracted to the gospel. I have a lot of practicing to do. I think living in a foreign country as a family is great preparation for being those fine people.
14 February 2009: Shanghai
14 Feb - cold night in Shanghai
[note from 2010 Savanna: my plane landed and Wang Xiaomei was at the airport to meet me. I did not expect our reaction upon seeing each other. We stood where we met, hugging and crying among all the other people, who greeted their loved ones with underplayed emotion. I am sure we were a strange sight. I did not want to be separated from her so we walked arm in arm to buy tickets to the Maglev train (the fastest train in the world). While in the taxi, we updated each other on our mutual acquaintances while my first impressions of China presented themselves through the window. That cold night Zhao Ting, Xiaomei, and I slept in a large, (very hard) bed and tried to stay warm. We took a photo--where is that picture?]
[note from 2010 Savanna: my plane landed and Wang Xiaomei was at the airport to meet me. I did not expect our reaction upon seeing each other. We stood where we met, hugging and crying among all the other people, who greeted their loved ones with underplayed emotion. I am sure we were a strange sight. I did not want to be separated from her so we walked arm in arm to buy tickets to the Maglev train (the fastest train in the world). While in the taxi, we updated each other on our mutual acquaintances while my first impressions of China presented themselves through the window. That cold night Zhao Ting, Xiaomei, and I slept in a large, (very hard) bed and tried to stay warm. We took a photo--where is that picture?]
13 February 2009: Flight
I landed in China one year ago today. Wang Xiaomei was my valentine. The posts that follow are from the journal I kept while traveling. These are my unprocessed thoughts as they were 365 days ago.
Northwest flight 25 Detroit - Tokyo Narita - Shanghai Hong Qiao
13 February 2009
"I wonder why God created the world to be so largely uninhabited." -- my thoughts as we flew over Alaska with its frozen rivers and landscape of snow-frosted mountains. It's too cloudy to see the ground right now. I'll be upset if this is my view of the Bering Strait. I'm so excited about looking out the window to see Russia.
My favorite thing about this flight is that it's light all the way to Japan. I left Boston at 5:56 am Friday and arrive in Tokyo at 4:40 pm Saturday. That's technically like 35 consecutive daylight hours, though I'm not actually living through all 35 of them. That I'm not prepared to calculate.
I sat by a lady from Boston to Detroit who is going to Savannah. I found that an interesting coincidence for her.
Just now I met a friendly Chinese girl while we were both oogling out the exit window at the landscape. Her name is Jessie. Her husband is a business student at Michigan.
I'm going to try to keep a good travel journal, something I've never done.
Northwest flight 25 Detroit - Tokyo Narita - Shanghai Hong Qiao
13 February 2009
"I wonder why God created the world to be so largely uninhabited." -- my thoughts as we flew over Alaska with its frozen rivers and landscape of snow-frosted mountains. It's too cloudy to see the ground right now. I'll be upset if this is my view of the Bering Strait. I'm so excited about looking out the window to see Russia.
My favorite thing about this flight is that it's light all the way to Japan. I left Boston at 5:56 am Friday and arrive in Tokyo at 4:40 pm Saturday. That's technically like 35 consecutive daylight hours, though I'm not actually living through all 35 of them. That I'm not prepared to calculate.
I sat by a lady from Boston to Detroit who is going to Savannah. I found that an interesting coincidence for her.
Just now I met a friendly Chinese girl while we were both oogling out the exit window at the landscape. Her name is Jessie. Her husband is a business student at Michigan.
I'm going to try to keep a good travel journal, something I've never done.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Back to Bostonia?
It may seem premature, but I'm thinking about what I want to do next. So far, this (of all specifically academic or career pursuits) is the only thing that has gotten me excited. It is revolutionary and integrates my interests in education and government with practical management skills. It would be a good transition from my Education and Social Change degree and I could do the 3rd-year residency with TFA. I just don't know that I am the kind of high-powered producer they need (I realized lately that I am art and precision, not output and efficiency) and I am not certain that a high-powered career is what I want.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
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